Joyce's Wall: March 2016

Thursday, 31 March 2016

Bad tech habits

Top four tech habits you should break today

We’re all guilty of being a tad lazy when it comes to our tech habits – whether it’s using one password for everything, never shutting down your computer or forgetting to back up your precious photos. Try breaking these top four tech habits today to make life a little easier tomorrow.

1. Only using one password for multiple sites

If you tend to set up all your online accounts with the same password, you could find yourself in hot water. In the event that one of those sites is hacked, your privacy is compromised across all your accounts, and any information you provide can be easily accessed and used against you. If the convenience of a single password sounds alluring, it’s worth giving LastPass a try. LastPass is a secure password manager that solves the problem of managing and remembering passwords by storing all your passwords in one place in the cloud. Your passwords are protected by a master password of your choice, so you only need to remember one password.

2. Forgetting to back up your photos

We all get snap-happy on our smartphones, taking and storing 100s of precious memories anytime, anyplace. But what happens if you lose your phone or accidentally delete all its data? That’s why, in order to prevent this crushing disaster, it’s strongly recommended that you regularly back up your photos onto your computer, an external hard drive or a free online account. For iPhone users, there’s an auto-backup option that uses wifi to sync your phone’s photos to the iPhoto app on your Apple computer. Android and Apple users also have the option of manually setting up auto-backup through Google+ and Flickr.

3. Not tweaking your Facebook settings

Facebook will automatically set your privacy settings to be open and public. It’s great to visit Facebook and interact with your friends, but you should be aware of how visible the content you’re posting is to others. Are your Facebook statuses and photos visible to the public, friends of friends or just your friends? Do you want to allow everyone to be able to send you a friend request, or just your acquaintances? To check your privacy settings, go your Facebook profile and click on the tiny padlock symbol in the top right of the screen. There you’ll see a dropdown menu with four options, allowing you tailor your privacy settings –i.e. Privacy Check-up, Who can see my stuff?, Who can contact me? and How do I stop someone from bothering me? – to your liking.

4. Never restarting your computer

It’s a myth that leaving your computer in stand-by mode all the time can damage it in some way – but it can cause the computer to slow down. Giving your computer a restart once a week helps to fix all sorts of problems because it gives the device a chance to clear off any current background processes that could be making it sluggish. Try to make it a habit of doing a complete shut down and reboot every once in a while too.

Are there other tech habits you want to break?

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Phone Noise

How to turn off the background noise on your iPhone

Have you ever had a phone call from someone where loud noise in the background made it difficult to hear what they were saying? There’s a simple trick to help reduce that background noise. With a couple of taps, a scroll and a flick of a switch, you can enjoy clearer-sounding calls.

It’s simple really. All you need to do is, on your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Accessibility. Then scroll down to the ‘Hearing’ section until you find ‘Phone Noise Cancellation’.

Flick that switch and you’ll have clearer-sounding phone calls from now on.

Now, that had to be the simplest tech tutorial you’ve ever read, right?

Monday, 28 March 2016

Security

Technology Q&A: iPhone and iPad security vulnerability

Bill recently emailed to warn us of a security vulnerability on iPhones and iPads. If your device is lost or stolen, all of your passwords and credit card details may be taken as well.

Q. Bill

Hi, I use an iPad and an iPhone. I recently just found all my passwords and login details under Settings, Safari, Passwords – meaning if I had of lost either my iPhone or iPad, anyone could have got all my passwords to all of my accounts. Could you write about this, explaining how to rectify the problem?

Thank you, Bill.

A. Hi Bill, thank you for your email and for alerting us to this.

If you use an iPhone or iPad and allow Safari to remember your login details – to save you from typing them in again and again – this information will be stored on your device.

The only security in place to stop anyone other than you from viewing this information is the passcode that you use to open your phone. So, if you don’t have a passcode lock on your phone, then anyone who has your phone can view all of this information.

The information that Safari can store includes your account names and passwords, full name and address, home phone number and credit card details.

If you have a passcode set for your device, then you don’t have much to worry about, although if your passcode is 1234 or 0000, you may want to change it to a new one.

If you don’t have a passcode, you have two options. You can either turn off this setting (known as AutoFill) and type in your information when it is needed, or you can setup a passcode for your device.

To turn off AutoFill, open the Settings app on your device and then tap Safari > Autofill. Now turn off the options for Use Contact Info, Names and Passwords, and Credit Cards.

To setup a passcode lock, open the Settings app; now scroll down and tap Passcode. If you wish to use a simple four-digit number as your passcode, turn on the Simple Passcode option, otherwise leave it turned off and you may use any letters, numbers or symbols in your passcode. Now tap Turn Passcode On and you can setup your passcode. Make sure you set your passcode to something you will not forget, as you will need it to access your device.

Do you have any technology related questions? Send them tonewsletters@yourlifechoices.com.au

Friday, 25 March 2016

Beware of free wi fi

One thing never to do while travelling

We’re going to take a wild guess and say we’re 99 per cent sure you’ve made this mistake at some point while travelling. I certainly know I’m guilty of it on many occasions. What we’re talking about is free wifi.

In the quest for internet access that doesn’t result in post-holiday bill shock, the majority of us will log on to any free wifi on which we can get our fingertips. But at what cost? Avast Software, a Cybersecurity company in the US, undertook an experiment to highlight the security risk associated with free wifi networks. To say the results were worrying would be an understatement.

During Europe’s big mobile technology conference Mobile World Congress, Avast Software used Barcelona Airport for their experiment, creating a few different wifi networks, with names like “Starbucks”, “Airport_Free_Wifi_AENA”, and MWC Free Wi-Fi”. Despite not knowing who was in control of those networks over 2000 people logged on during the only four hours the wifi was available.

The information Avast Software was able to access is enough to make your hair stand on end. Not only could they see what apps users of their wifi networks were using but also from which devices they were accessing the networks. Furthermore, from a majority of devices, they were able to obtain the user’s identity. If that’s not enough to scare you, I don’t know what is!

While Avast security only conducted the experiment to showcase how susceptible free wifi seekers can be to hackers, those 4000 people may not be so lucky next time. Either way, it’s a timely reminder to us all that no Facebook status is worth the risk of identity theft.

So, how can you make sure you stay safe when you need to use wifi while travelling? The best option is to use a safe network, such as your accommodation’s wifi or to ask employees, such as at a cafés, which network is actually theirs. Free wifi that you happen to stumble upon may end up costing you a lot more than you intended.

You can read more about Avast Software’s experiment here.

Thursday, 24 March 2016

New Smart Device

Buying a new smart device: how to move from Android to iOS

If you’re considering purchasing a new smartphone or tablet, and swapping from an Android to an iPhone or iPad, you may want to find out what’s involved when you make the move.

Luckily, the process has been made quite simple for those moving from Android to iOS, unfortunately moving from iOS to Android is a little more involved.

To get started with your transfer, open up Google Play on your Android device and get theMove to iOS app.

You’ll need to be running Android 4.0 or later, and the iPhone or iPad to which you’re moving will need to be running iOS 9 or later.

Now make sure both devices are plugged in to a power source and connected to wifi.

Open up your new iOS device and begin setting up the device. look for the Apps and Data screen, which you should see after you setup a passcode. Now tap Move Data from Android.

After you’ve done this, open up the Move to iOS app on your Android device and follow the prompts until you reach the Find Your Code screen, then tap Next in the top-right corner. Now wait for the 10-digit code to appear. Once it appears, enter it in to your Android device and the Transfer Data screen should appear. From this screen you can choose what you would like to transfer to your new iOS device. After you’ve made your selections, tap Next.

Now you can leave the devices to transfer data across, which can take a while if you’re moving a lot of data. When this is finished, tap Done on the Android device and then finish the last few setup steps on your iOS device.

You should now be ready to go on your new device. Just remember to check whether everything transferred across successfully. If it didn’t, you might have to transfer it manually.

Saturday, 19 March 2016

Apps for budgeting

Budgeting: best apps for living on a fixed income

Living on a fixed income can be difficult, and you’ll want to save money whenever it’s possible. Using a budgeting app can help you to discover new ways to save money.

If you’re unfamiliar with budgeting apps, they each come with their unique bells and whistles, but the basic premise is the same. By entering in all of your expenses and categorising them, you can make more informed decisions about how you spend and save money.

Pocketbook
To get the most out of a budgeting app every single transaction you make must be logged. This can take a lot of time. It’s a big obstacle in the way of learning more about your spending habits and finding new ways to save money.

To cut back on this time investment, Pocketbook allows you to connect with your Australian bank accounts and will synchronise your spending automatically.

Once your bank accounts are all synced, Pocketbook will be able to determine what 80 per cent of your transactions are – e.g. income, bills or groceries. For any transactions it cannot categorise (or does so incorrectly), you can set manually, and Pocketbook will remember this setting for the future.

The app has over 100,000 Australian users, and allows you to set notifications for when you approach your spending budget, have bills due and more.

Pocketbook is free on iPhone, iPad, Android and through its website. There is an advanced analytical tool that can be unlocked for $9 or by recommending the app to a friend.

Wally
This app has a unique way of categorising your spending habits into ‘experiences’. For example, in addition to categorising a transaction as ‘eating out’, you can tag it as a social, family, work or personal ‘experience’.

This innovative method of categorising spending helps you to discover where you are spending too much money, whether it’s being too generous when you’re eating out with family, or having drinks with your friends too often.

Wally can also use your location to determine where you are and on what you’re likely to be spending money. So all you have to enter is the amount. and it will know how to categorise it.

Available for free on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Monefy

This barebones budgeting app will help you to visualise where your money is going. After setting the categories, you can enter in expenses with a few taps. Each expense added will instantly affect the pie chart shown on the apps’ main screen. It’s a good introductory app if you haven’t used a budgeting app before.

Available for free on Android.

Related articles:
Easy ways to save money
Five money saving websites

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Organise your Apps

Is it time to organise your apps? We know how to do it.

Is your smartphone swimming in the number of apps you’ve collected over the years? If so, it may be time to organise your apps, and we know just how to do it.

There are two ways that you can go about organising your apps on your Apple device. The first is through iTunes, the second, and probably easiest way, is to do it directly on your device. To do this, simply press and hold on any app icon on your screen. When you see it start to shake, you’ll have the ability to move them around. You can switch the position of your apps, or, if you want to create folders, drag one app over the top of another until one swallows the other. You’ve just created a folder that you can name accordingly.

Now that you know the basics, here are five ways you can organise your apps.

1. Organise by function
The simplest and, in my opinion, the best way to organise your apps is by function. Say you have a few news-related apps on your phone. Press and hold an app icon, then drag one of the news apps over the top of the other, until they combine. You can now name your folder ‘News’, then drag all of your news apps into that folder. Do the same with your reference, to-do, conversion and weather apps (just to name a few). How you organise your folders is up to you.

2. Organise by how often you use them
There are apps you use every day, and those you may only access every so often. On your home screen, which is the screen that appears each time you unlock your phone, drag all of the apps you most frequently use. Then swipe across to another screen, or, if you don’t have a second screen, press and hold an app icon until it shakes, then drag that app all the way to the right until you open a blank screen. You now have a second app screen into which you can place all your less-frequently used apps. You can repeat this process for up to 11 screens on your iPhone.

3. Themed rows
A variation on the ‘organise by function’ method is to organise by theme. This is where, instead of creating themed folders of bunched apps, you create a row of separate apps (or a screen full, if you have that many) designated by theme. You could have your news apps in a row, followed by your health or fitness apps, followed by your entertainment apps, social media apps, games and so on.

4. One screen with folders
I also like this one, although one drawback with it is if you only have two apps that fit under a specific category, then you may as well leave them separate, rather than having to drill into a folder to access one of them. That said, there are 20 ‘slots’ per screen into which you can place 20 folders, where you pop all your apps into the appropriate folders. You’ll never have to swipe right again (unless you’re a Tinder user!).

5. By hand position
Your thumb can only stretch so far, so placing the apps you use most frequently within easy thumb distance is a good way to go. Simply switch the position of your favourite apps closest to the finger you use to tap them open. This method makes accessing your apps super fast and it also places less strain on your digits.

One more for the road…

If organising your apps seems like a bit of a mission, you can always alphabetise them instead – and it’s super easy to do. Just go to Settings > General > Reset, then scroll down to ‘Reset Home Screen Layout. This will place all your default apps in the original location and organise the rest of your apps alphabetically.

Handy hints: I only ever place 16 apps on any one screen. That way, when you’re playing around with the position of your apps, or swiping your screen, you won’t accidentally move or open an app that your finger presses. I also put my Messages, Phone and Mail apps in the dock at the bottom of my phone, and I create a ‘Utilities’ folder where I put all my regularly used utility apps, such as Settings, Clock, iTunes, Calendar, Voice Memos, Calculator and Notes.

Latest Scam

‘Locky’ ransomware scam is duping tens of thousands of Australians

Another crafty scam has hit Australian shores, this time cyber criminals are ‘scraping’ social media accounts to find personal information that can be used to ransom your computer.

The ransomware scam fittingly known as ‘Locky’, works by hackers scouring social media profiles for information such as full names, job descriptions and addresses. This information is then converted into a seemingly legitimate email, such as the latest Australia Post parcel email scam, which tricks victims into activating a file that then locks their computer until a ransom is paid.

The scam, which was only recently discovered by antivirus and security company MailGuard, has since attacked millions throughout the world, and is being hailed as highly advanced. So advanced, that it has even managed to go undetected by many antivirus and malware protection programs. It can appear as an email attachment or may even be attached to Microsoft Word documents.

And it’s not just Aussies who are falling foul of this insidious internet infection. A hospital in the US had its IT systems ransomed, with staff then having to revert to pen and paper for days before the organisation was forced to pay $US17,000 (AU$22,772) to release its files.

Internet users are being advised to limit the amount of personal information they display through social media accounts and to be extremely cautious when opening any email attachments – especially if the source is unknown or not completely trustworthy.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) estimates that Australians have lost $80,000 to email parcel scams and advises that emails received claiming that consumers have an "undeliverable package" should be regarded with scepticism or deleted.

If you have a missing parcel, Australia Post will put a message under your door or letter box, so any emails stating otherwise will most likely be illegitimate. Regardless, it is advisable not to click on any links or download unknown files as they are most likely to contain malware.

Aussies are also being advised to back up their files regularly on an external hard drive.

If you receive any type of suspicious email that you think may contain malware, please contact ScamWatch or call 1300 795 995.

Have you, or do you know anyone who has been tricked by this scam? How much did it cost to release the files?

Monday, 14 March 2016

Travel Apps

Try these four great travel apps on your next trip

Not all travel apps are created equal – some are far more useful and initiative than others. So we’ve pulled together a few of the best travel apps that will actually prove useful on your next trip.

App in the Air

App in the Air is everything you’ll ever need to stay on schedule during your trip. Manage your time at all major airports around the world by receiving weather updates, flight information and currency exchange rates. By breaking your journey into four stages (check-in, boarding, and take-off and landing times) you’ll have easy access to all your flight details – including a file of your important documents, such as boarding passes.

App in the Air even tells you were to find the best food at the airport and how to connect to free wifi. The app interface is straightforward and easy to use, making it efficient when you need access to essential information in a hurry.

Available for free on iOS and Android.

Duolingo

If you’re endeavouring to learn a few new phrases of a foreign language before your trip, Duolingo comes highly recommended. Used by 70 million people around the world, this app offers free online courses in languages such as French, German, Italian, Dutch, Irish and Portuguese.

Learning a new language with Duolingo is an interactive experience, which includes typing answers, translating text and sound, pronunciation practice and word games. You choose the difficulty level, and the lessons become tricker the further along you move in the course. You can also go back and retake any lessons again.

Available for free on iOS and Android.

Google Translate

Perhaps you gave learning a new language a red-hot go but have arrived at your destination far from fluent. In moments such as these, Google Translate is your friend. On a practical level, this translator tool can help you out of a bind when you’re ordering from a menu, reading a street sign or trying to communicate with the locals. Not only can you search and translate almost any word from 90 languages, the app also contains a nifty feature that allows you to take a photo of a menu or street sign for Google to instantly translate. There are also downloadable language packs to use offline, for when you’re travelling around a lot or don’t have access to free wifi.

Available for free on iOS and Android.

XE Currency

With over 40 million downloads since its launch, XE Currency is the best currency app going around. Wherever you are in the world, you’ll be able to convert the local currency, so you can track your spending. The app offers live proprietary exchange rates, rates for precious metals and historic currency charts. What’s more, recently updated rates are automatically stored in the app, meaning that even when you’re offline, you’ll have access to exchange information.

Available for free on iOS, Android and Blackberry.

Siri

Siri: a guide to using your virtual personal assistant

Ever wished you had a personal assistant? If you own an iPhone or iPad, you already do. Find out just how much your personal assistant, Siri, can do for you.

First things first, how do you talk to Siri? If you hold down the Home button on your device (the button underneath the screen), Siri will be activated. Now talk into the phone and Siri will talk back to you and perform tasks for you. Here’s what she can do for you.

Directions

Find out how to get somewhere by simply asking Siri: “Give me directions to [insert location here]”. Try to talk as clearly as possible when saying the name of your location and be specific with city names. Siri should now find your destination and give you turn-by-turn directions to get you there.

Set alarms and reminders

If you ask Siri to “Wake me up at [insert time here]”, she will set an alarm to wake you up at that time – just remember to specify AM or PM. And if you ask her to “Remind me to get milk tomorrow morning”, she will set a reminder for that too. If you have an app open, you can ask Siri to “Remember this later” and you’ll get a reminder later about what you had open, such as a video, article or email.

Get some answers

If you ask a question, Siri will probably be able to find the answer, from simple weather questions, currency conversions or word definitions to complex questions such as “What is the meaning of life?”

Messages

You can tell Siri to “Message [insert contact name]”, and then tell her what you want to say in the message. If she misunderstands a word, just tap it and you’ll be able to choose from alternative suggestions. Siri will also read you a message aloud if you ask her to “Read my last message from [insert contact name]”.

Open apps

Siri will open an app if you tell her to “Open [insert name of app]”.

Leave it to chance

If you ask Siri to “Flip a coin”, “Roll a dice” or “Pick a card”, she will, which can be great for settling arguments.

Personalise

If the personal assistant of your dreams is a male, Siri won’t judge. You can change Siri’s gender by opening Settings, tapping General, then tapping Siri. From this menu you can change Siri’s gender as well as accent, if perhaps a British vernacular takes your fancy.

Whatever you want

These are just some of the most commonly used commands for Siri. The only way to find out everything that she can do is to give her a shot. If you ask her nicely, she might even read you a haiku.

Sunday, 13 March 2016

Share your location

Travel: tech that helps you to share your location with others

Have you ever worried about your partner not making it home from a night out? Or do you want to know where your family is whilst they’re travelling about the countryside, or the globe? It’s not a bad thing to be concerned about where your loved ones are at any given time, especially if they have a habit of going off the beaten track.

Here are three ways to share or track the location of your loved ones.

Life360 Family Locator

The Life360 Family Locator allows family members to track each other in real time. Now that may sound invasive, but just think of the benefits. If you’re going out at night, you can check in with your partner, and he or she will know that you are safe – or at least where you are. You can also define a location, such as a café, restaurant or workplace, and the app will send you an alert to let you know when they’ve arrived. Pretty cool.

You can also track your location history – handy for remembering where you were on Tuesday of last week (should that memory not come so easily). There’s also a built in ‘panic’ button that will send out an emergency ‘beacon’ signal, including an SOS and your exact GPS co-ordinates to anyone you designate – nice to know if you’re ever lost or in trouble in the big city.

Available free for Android and iPhone.

Google+

Believe it or not, there’s more to Google+ than ‘Circles’. Google+ is Google’s social networking platform that’s similar to Facebook, although not nearly as popular. The online app allows you to share your location with family members and friends who use the Google+ app.

To share your location, send a request through the app to your friends or family members. Once they accept, you can view each other’s movements through the Google+ app. You can also share your location with a friend, even if they don’t want to share theirs with you. This makes it easier for you to ask them to keep an eye on you, without them feeling as though their own privacy is being ‘violated’.

You can also share your location with a circle of friends, family members or groups to which you belong. Say you have a gardening group. You simply create a circle that includes everyone involved, and if someone doesn’t show up to a gardening day, you can find out where they are, or just make sure that they are safe.

Available free for Android and iPhone.

Apple Family Sharing and Location feature

If you’re a part of a family that utilises Apple’s Family Sharing feature, you can share your location with them.

You can do this when you set up Family Sharing, or by going to Settings > iCloud > Share My Location. If you agree to share, you’ll be trackable on their devices and you’ll also be able to see where they are on yours. If at any time you don’t wish to share your location, simply turn of ‘Share My Location’. This will hide your location from all of your family members and any of your approved friends.

Technically, you can also find a family member with Apple’s Find My iPhone feature.

Do you know of any other ways to share your location with family members or friends? Why not share your ideas with our members?

Thursday, 10 March 2016

Malware Scam

New malware scam targets Aussie mobile banking apps

Sophisticated malware that can steal passwords and bypass two-factor authentication is currently targeting users of Australian mobile banking apps.

The virus specifically infects Android phones, with customers of the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and the National Bank of Australia, the main targets. However, BankWest, Bendigo Bank, St George Bank, Bank of New Zealand, Wells Fargo and Kiwibank are also among those considered vulnerable.

The malware, discovered by antivirus pioneers ESET, presents victims with a fake login screen that they actually access via their legitimate banking application.

Customers are then asked to enter their passwords, after which the malware creators steal customer details and the money from their accounts remotely.

The thieves can also intercept two-factor authentication, which would usually protect customers from these types of scams.

“This allows SMS-based two-factor authentication of fraudulent transactions to be bypassed, without raising the suspicions of the device’s owner,” said ESET researcher Lukas Stefanko. “The attack has been massive and it can be easily refocused to any other set of target banks.”

The malware spreads through an imitation Flash Player app, which would most likely have been downloaded by an unwitting customer from an untrustworthy source.

“It’s an ongoing problem with Android devices, because of the open source nature of the platform ... There’s been a number of malware aimed at banking apps,” said cyber security expert Matthew Warren.

Apple users can only download apps from the Apple Store, whereas Android users can download them from anywhere.

Mr Warren suggest that Android users should install antivirus or malware protection software, especially if they’re using their device to access banking details.

If you think you are infected by the malware, you can remove it from the device by going to Settings > Security > Device administrators > Flash Player > Deactivate.

You can then uninstall the offending Flash Player app.

Have you been affected by this malware? How did you find out?

Technology: apps that can help forgetful people to remember

Life can be pretty hectic at times. Forget ageing—whoa, wait, what was I going to say? Darn, I forgot. Now, maybe if I had an app that could help me remember things?

Here are eight apps that will prove invaluable to anyone who has trouble remembering everything. You’ll never forget to remember again!

Evernote

Evernote is a great all-round app for recording pretty much anything that comes to mind. From to-do lists to notes, pictures and articles, this handy app allows you to store anything you may need for future reference. And the best part is, all of your info is safely stored online, so you can access it from your desktop, smartphone or tablet, anytime, anywhere.
Available free for desktop, iOS and Android

LastPass

If you ever have trouble remembering your myriad passwords, then LastPass will prove itself invaluable to you. The free version of this practical password-managing app stores all your passwords for any websites you visit and keeps them secure with strong encryption and a single master password. A premium version, available for $12 per year, stores and syncs all your passwords for all of your devices, so you’ll never need to remember them again. Except that master password, of course. Read more about LastPass.
Available free for desktop, iOS and Android

Reminders

Your iOS and MacOS device comes with a very capable reminder app called, funnily enough, Reminders. This standard app allows you to easily create to-do lists, which can be assigned to different aspects of life, such as house, shopping, bucket-list, and so on. You can also set reminders to help you remember to do the items on your list. The reminders can be set for a certain time, or when you arrive at a particular location. Say you need milk, well, you set a reminder and a location of your milk bar or supermarket, and when you’re close by, Reminders will send you, you guessed it, a reminder.

To Do Reminder

This is another brilliant list-making app. One particularly clever feature of To Do Reminder, though, is that it allows you to make all your notes by voice – so you don’t even have to type! Pretty handy, and great for when you’re on the go.
Available free for iOS and Android

Do It (Tomorrow)

Not everyone has time to do everything in one day, and for those people, Do It (Tomorrow) may be the ideal app. With Do It (Tomorrow), you simply set your list of to-dos, and whatever you can’t get done today, you shuffle to tomorrow. So, by putting off your less-important unfinished tasks until tomorrow, you’ll still have a sense of achievement today. Hooray!
Available free for iOS and Android

Countdown+ Event Reminders

Ever have trouble remembering birthdays, or other special days, such as anniversaries or when you should change your kitty litter? Well, if you couldn’t already tell that one by the smell (the kitty litter, not the birthday or anniversary), you’ll be happy to know that Countdown+ Event Reminders is an ideal app to help remind you of those occasions.

This app allows you to set prompts for special events, enabling you to customise reminders with photographs, fonts and colours. Once you’ve made your reminder look all pretty, you can set a timer that counts down the minutes til the day arrives. So you’ll never need an excuse for forgetting your anniversary. Sorry.
Available free for iOS, Android and Windows Phone

TripList

Don’t you just love packing for a trip? And with all the preparation in the world, you, like me, may arrive and still have forgotten your phone charger or underwear (except the ones you’re wearing, of course). Well TripList may make leaving your knickers at home a little more difficult and, at the same time, make packing a far less stressful task. Simply create your holiday list well in advance and TripList will send you gentle reminder for when you should start packing. Once you’ve checked the boxes next to your packed items, it will give you an update on what you’ve left out of your bag. And once you’ve made one list, you can transfer it to your next holiday. Pretty handy huh?
Available free for iOS

Mint Bills (iOS and Android, Free)

Keeping track of paying your bills can be a daunting task. And all those late payments can cost you a pretty penny too. Mint Bills tracks the dates on which your bills are due, then sends you a reminder of when you should pay them. It even has a facility to securely link your accounts and payments and, although it already informs you of when bills need to be paid, also offers an automatic payment option, so you’ll never have a late fee again.
Available free for iOS and Android